Mercedes will be happy to let Mick Schumacher leave if another Formula 1 team offers a race seat.
That's according to team principal Toto Wolff, who signed the German as a reserve after Haas decided not to renew his race seat contract. It wasn't long after Schumacher's axing that the Austrian made it clear he wanted to bring him into the Mercedes fold.
"Mick is someone that has always been close to our heart, because of Michael, and the whole Schumacher family – Ralf was in the DTM for a long time with us, his son [David] races Mercedes in GTs," Wolff declared at the time.
"And [Mick] is an intelligent, well-mannered young man. He's been very successful in junior formulas, we believe that we can look after him if the situation were to happen, with someone that just fits the team."
Schumacher has begun his role as a reserve for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Among his duties will be simulator and promotional work, though as it stands his only chances of racing competitively in F1 will be if one of their main drivers is unable to compete for any reason.
"I believe that if we can provide him with a safe environment to develop further, he can be a good driver in a full-time seat in the future," Wolff said this week of his situation. He went on to say that, like they did with former reserve Nyck de Vries, they will be happy to let Schumacher leave if a chance to race comes along.
He added: "We had to let Nyck go in the same way for him to have a career, now that could also happen with Mick. Whether it's with our team or whether we have to let him go, we don't know yet."
Haas' decision to replace Schumacher was, at least in part, due to the German's record of costly crashes. He was deemed to have brought in too few points to make up for those mistakes, and has been replaced by the more experienced Nico Hulkenberg.
Mercedes have signed the 23-year-old with no concerns on that front. Wolff is confident that he will prove to be an asset for the team, especially when it comes to helping to assess car developments and setups over the course of the year.
The team principal continued: "He will contribute enormously as he has already driven the new car and he has been in Formula 1 for two years. He will be super helpful in the simulator and when judging the car. It's good to have him on track and in the debriefing area."
